A segment of the infamous drug lord's once-lavish ranch – a representation of the drug lord's immense fortune and residence to his well-known “hippos” – is being granted to female individuals scarred by Colombia's prolonged conflict, stated Gustavo Petro.
Escobar, Colombia's most well-known drug trafficker and ex-leader of the influential Medellín cartel, emerged as one of the most affluent people in the world in the late 1980s, with assessments placing his assets at nearly 25 billion dollars.
The Lavish Estate: Escobar's Ranch
He spent a portion of his fortune in decking out his Nápoles estate in northwestern Colombia. In addition to populating it with antique vehicles and exotic animals – striped horses, tall mammals, hopping marsupials and the hippos – he constructed an airstrip, various swimming pools and a thousand-seat bullfighting arena. On top of the entryway, the drug lord also mounted a copy of a plane, modelled on the one he supposedly employed for his maiden narcotics delivery to the US.
Aftermath
Subsequent to his demise in a rooftop shootout with law enforcement in Medellín in the year 1993, his estate was abandoned and became dilapidated. It was later taken over by the state and rented to municipal officials, who for some time converted it as a theme park.
Now, a section of the property has been repurposed again and awarded to victims of Colombia's prolonged civil strife.
“We have started to take back the Nápoles estate for the affected people,” Gustavo Petro wrote on social media.
Granting Property
The authorities has announced that 120 hectares of the land has been awarded to female agricultural workers. A senior official, head of the National Land Agency, described the move “a landmark achievement for the female individuals who never stopped fighting”.
“It is an immense joy to finally celebrate,” remarked a recipient, an awardee, in a footage released by the government-operated land authority. “I am delighted because now there are female individuals who have optimism, who have land ownership.”
Territorial Issues
Territorial disagreements have consistently contributed to instability in the country, with cartel members and guerrillas forcibly evicting agricultural workers to increase their land holdings and grow coca plants, the vegetation used to produce cocaine.
An expert, deputy director of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, commented that the drug lord “purchased and took” the land and sought to make it an “realm almost completely independent from the country, with its own laws and even its unique environment”.
Presidential Plan
In May, the president, the country's first leftist president, put forward returning part of the land to rural residents. “That estate has countless casualties that it should be given back to the population,” he remarked, stating that the land's “legitimate holders” were the countryside residents.
Opposition and Protests
However some local residents and business owners opposed the plan, stating it jeopardized the area's financial stability; the amusement park draws more than one million visitors per year. A protest later saw nearly 1,500 people obstruct the main highway.
Moving Forward
In spite of the resistance, the plan has been implemented. “The action taken by the president was to give back the land, and also the dignity, to those who had suffered total loss,” the analyst stated.
Remaining Issue
In spite of the allocation of the property, the expanding group of feral hippos roam on, trampling crops and assaulting local communities – a final remnant of his criminal legacy that has not been controlled.